After our time in Joshua Tree, we were ready for the water again. As it turns out, on our last night there, we met a beautiful family (from Canada... I told you!!!) that had decided to head toward the river, as well, so we agreed to meet up there. We've been here for two weeks, and have put the beach and river and lagoon to good use. The weather was magnificent, except for the couple of days that were so windy you couldn't be outside because of the dirt, sand and dust flying everywhere. It was great going to bed every night, knowing whatever you left out wouldn't get rained on. Desert living, I guess, but strange not having to pop out of bed in the middle of the night and do a mental run-down of what might be outside when you hear raindrops on the roof.
We experienced out first earthquake while we were here, too. The boys slept right through it, but I woke up thinking someone was outside pushing on our bus. The movement was enough to make the bus groan and creak, but nothing fell off of/out of anything. We went back to sleep thinking maybe the boys were just rolling over in their bed (that was John's explanation, but I really couldn't see how little bodies, even if they both rolled over simultaneously, could cause that degree of movement); and it wasn't until the next morning when John mentioned something to Erin (of our traveling partners for the time) said, "WHAT? *I* woke up thinking someone was outside pushing on *our* trailer!" We did a little research on-line, and sure enough, earthquake.
Saylor and Stone had some bigger kids to play with the whole time, too; Gio (we met him last time we were in this area, a couple weeks back) and Star and JJ (they live here in a house, their dad works for the park system). They were on their bicycles daily and worked on a fort in some jungle like growth that borders the campground.
Our time here was magical in many ways. We spent 2 weeks creating a new relationship with friends, having the most *real* conversations about *real* stuff. We learned so much from each other. The boys enjoyed their children (they've got 3 boys, as well: 5, 4 and 4 months). I ***adored*** their children, and it was sweet cuddling on the baby. Andrew graciously accepted my plea to teach us some new drum rhythms, so we did quite a lot of drumming together.
We're leaving today, heading toward Las Vegas where we'll meet up with Erin, Andrew and boys for a night or two so Andrew can share some of his bouldering knowledge with us. We're also planning a Trader Joe's run and a stop at REI while we're there. Then, it's onward to Hurricane, UT where we'll spend a week at Sand Hollow State Park with my mom, who'll drive from Reno to meet us there on Monday. After that, we're taking the road north to Rapid City for a couple fun-filled weeks with friends before we go east to Minnesota for John's work season. I **reeeeaaalllly!* hope that the weather decides to behave itself while we're making our way north-ward, and while we're actually there. It is spring, after all, so I do hope it decides to act like it!
